#4. The Complication
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
My mission of finding Hifumi and Touko hasn't changed, I'll just send some others to try finding this Yeerk Pool. That was the course of action I took... a course of action I knew my grandfather would've told me not to, that was too involved with the individuals involved than the greater questions afoot.
But even if I was the one person closest to Kirigiri Fuhito, it still wasn't like I could predict exactly how he'd act in such an... unorthodox situation as an alien invasion. So who knows, there was always the chance he would've agreed with me, as I knew people weren't so predictable.
"Ishimaru," I said to the Prefect, "When the break comes, I'll need you to gather everyone who touched the Escafil Device at the cafeteria, we need to form our first real plan of action. Once I'm finished talking with my father," I somewhat sugarcoated my situation, "I'll get to looking for Yamada and Fukawa first thing. In the meantime, we'll all need to keep a close watch on anyone who might be a Yeerk, track where they're headed".
"Wait, 'track where they're headed', you mean just spy on people?!" Kiyotaka gasped, worrying me that his volume may've just alerted my father.
"You're Head of the Disciplinary Committee, isn't monitoring students' behaviour your job?" I asked him bluntly, "Besides, if we have an alien infiltration on our hands, then the normal 'rules' don't apply".
Kiyotaka twitched, "I am well aware of my duties, Miss Kirigiri, and you telling me how to do my job could in fact count as a further violation," he fumed, but then paused for breath and said, "But yes, I do agree at us convening would be of utmost importance, and the cafeteria is a sensible enough place to do so". I was relieved to know there was some getting through to him.
"Also, you might want to stop by one of the school's swimming pools," I then said to him, "I've heard mutterings of a 'Yeerk Pool', and while I doubt it's the same one, it pays to check".
I had to immediately shut my mouth, as Mondo then walked out the door, not caring the he'd slammed it all the way into the wall while doing so.
"Hey, I couldn't hear a word you guys were saying with your Dad yammering in my ear," the Gang Leader began with, "But hey, Kyoko, if this law-abiding arsehole's giving you any lip, I say tell him to cram it. Oh yeah, and Daddy Dearest wants to see you now".
I had no idea if that was meant as genuine advice, or was the Yeerk in Mondo's head simply trying to stay in character.
"C-cram it?!" Kiyotaka was seething now, "Hmph, well whatever punishment our Headmaster has visited upon you, hooligan, I will trust that it was sufficient".
I sighed, slowly heading my way into my father's office, my ears tensed for fear an alien slug would soon be shoved into them.
My father's purple-curtained office didn't have anything immediately alien about it, though for how shrouded in shadows it was, I wasn't able to look around to the best of my abilities. Pointing at me to sit down on one of the grey couches, he cut to the chase with, "Well young lady, care to explain why you were late to the entrance ceremony?".
I could feel myself breathing. I couldn't even tell him an abridged version of the truth, that I heard a loud crash at the abandoned construction site and went to investigate, for I'd seen him there too. Even that would give me away.
So instead, I told him, "I was... 'hanging out'. Specifically, I'd arranged to meet up with some of our school's celebrity students, as I'd heard a lot about them online, and hoped they could give me a preview of what student life here is like, since... I don't exactly get to meet people often. I must've lost track of time, it happens, especially when you're among such talented people". Yeerk or not, I crafted that last line specifically for him.
He narrowed his gaze. "Whereabouts were you 'hanging out'?" he asked.
I gulped. "At a café in the mall" I came up with, feeling it was the most natural-sounding answer.
Not like that got him to back down. "You are aware our Hope's Peak has its own interior shops and eateries, correct? Or did Fuhito keep even that from you?" he kept prodding.
"Of course I knew, what other mall would I be talking about?" I said to him, for I recalled he had not specifically seen me come in the front gate that morning.
My father sighed. "Well then, Kyoko, not only were you tardy, you were also responsible for the tardiness of your fellow students. You can expect to be carrying water buckets for quite some time. Or..." he then said, before reaching into his desk to hand me a video tape, "You can have sentence lifted by showing your classmates this. It's a little animated instructional short, that is all. The A/V room is on the ground floor of the North Quarter, as I trust you are aware".
I hesitated, then asked, "The... North Quarter? I was told before I came here that it'd be undergoing renovations".
My father gave a sly grin at that, "Already finished, as who would we be if we didn't have an Ultimate Renovator handy? You are dismissed, Kyoko, I entrust your future behaviour will be fitting of the Kirigiri name you still cling to".
Well, at least I'd gotten through that whole meeting without being Yeerk'd. I had no clue what alien technology would be encrypted into a video tape of all things, so I tried making mental notes of what animals' eyes might filter out any hypnotic effects. Perhaps thoughts of hypnotic tapes were me being too paranoid, but in a scenario like this, how was I to be sure?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWQ6Nnyb-UI
Before meeting back up with everyone else at the cafeteria, I first checked what was admittedly the most obvious place Hifumi and Touko could be, their Dorm Rooms in the South Quarter.
There was no response at all when I rang Hifumi's doorbell however, in fact I could hear some nearby students snickering at me for even trying to get in touch with him at all. Of course, I only rang to be sure, not expecting any answer in the first place, but I still walked off to find find Touko's room.
Entering the Girls' dorms though, I was quickly approached by Sayaka. While she had a cheery look on her face, I could sense her trembling.
"Ah, h-hello there, Kirigiri Kyoko," she began with, bowing before me, "I guess I'm still processing all of this, y'know, shapeshifting powers, alien invasions... watching Elfangor be eaten alive, not knowing if the Yeerks have gotten to my idol friends," she looked to the ground, starting to hyperventilate as she whispered those last lines, "S-so, I wanted to just ask how you were doing. I mean, you seem to be handling this really well, ah, not meaning to assume of course".
I had to wish my estranged sister Kozue was here, as her Psychology training, especially rare in Japan, would be far more adapt at consoling Sayaka than I was.
I tried to be truthful with the Idol, "Maizono, you have to understand I was raised to conceal my emotions, it's... my family's way," I told her. "I've-I've been feeling every emotion you have, the only thing I'm better is hiding them, that's all".
"Oh, I see," she muttered, before she brightened up again and said, "It's just that out of the ten of us, well, I figured you're probably the most able to handle an, ahem, alien invasion like this. I mean, I tried thinking who else could we put in charge, and well, the only other I could think of was Kiyotaka, but well, he's kinda inflexible, y'know. I'd still be happy to be your assistant, if you ever need me".
I stared blank at her, I couldn't believe what she'd just said. Well, I could, I was just repulsed by it.
"I'm no Leader, Maizono," I tried making that dead clear, "Part of my talent, as much as I will say about it, requires me to be a neutral observer, to analyse from a distance. I-I can't do what you ask".
"I... I see," she whimpered and began to back off, but then she stood back up and said, "But like I said, if you can't be our Leader, who- who else can?".
...She had a point there. Sayaka had already encapsulated why Kiyotaka, authoritative as he was, was still not fit for the task. Byakuya was the next clear candidate, yet from what I knew of leaders, shouldn't they at least give a damn about their followers? Junko, no, she was too headstrong.
"Hmm, you do have a point," I said to her, my tone lightening, and briefly morphing cat ears and back I added, "And, well, my neutrality's in question now. Since I've touched the Escafil Device, I supposed I'm less impartial now than I'd like to be.
Okay, I... won't answer yet, but I'll think on it" I ended up telling her.
"Th-thank you!" she beamed at me, nearly crying tears of joy.
While there, I finally got around to ringing Touko's doorbell. "S-stay out! I'm warning you, this is private!" I heard her voice blare out from the other side of the door.
"Fukawa, it's me, Kirigiri Kyoko" I told her through intercom. Well, at least this was more success than I thought I'd have.
My words got Touko to open the door, albeit gradually. "Oh, the Headmaster's daughter, a-aren't you? There at the crash site, I remember. W-well, whatever you want, m-make it quick!" she hissed.
Able to peer a little further into her room, I was instantly drawn to a grey, pudgy Shiba Inu I saw in there, wearing glasses. "Y-Yamada?" I leapt to asking.
<Why, Miss Kirigiri, a welcome sight. Especially after being stuck with Miss Fukawa constantly degrading my own wordsmithery,> what was unmistakably Hifumi's voice was projected out of that dog, <I absolutely won't stand for it! Oh, um, why are you staring at me?>
"...Yamada, how long have you been in dog form?" I had to ask.
<Hmm, a couple of hours now. Must've lost track of time, is that bad?> he had to go and say.
"A Nothlit, right?" Sayaka spoke up, "I remember, that's what Elfangor said would happen".
<Ah, I take it you would prefer if I resumed my human form?> Hifumi then said. However, he was then left grunting and groaning as he tried to morph back, before he slumped to the floor and panted, <I- I do apologise, but it would appear...>
"He's stuck in this form," Touko snarled, "I knew he'd do something idiotic, from the very moment he yelled 'Henshin Da!' at the top of his lungs while morphing, even though we were trying to get away silently!".
I could've collapsed. The Nothlit risk was always at the back of my mind, but I didn't expect it to be an issue this soon.
I had originally planned to get everyone to just search for the Yeerk Pool, having found Touko and Hifumi earlier than I thought I would. But between Hifumi and my father's videotape, things had already gone awry.
"We should start forming a cover story as to Yamada's, er, disappearance, at least till we can return you back.
[ ] We'll say his training as the SHSL Otaku involves a long watching a drawing session in seclusion."
[ ] We'll say you were transferred last-minute to the overseas Hope's Peak branch."
[ ] We'll say you had to go into hiding after being targeted by a serial killer, there's more than a few of them around."
[ ] We'll just say you've gone missing."
[ ] Write-in
But even if I was the one person closest to Kirigiri Fuhito, it still wasn't like I could predict exactly how he'd act in such an... unorthodox situation as an alien invasion. So who knows, there was always the chance he would've agreed with me, as I knew people weren't so predictable.
"Ishimaru," I said to the Prefect, "When the break comes, I'll need you to gather everyone who touched the Escafil Device at the cafeteria, we need to form our first real plan of action. Once I'm finished talking with my father," I somewhat sugarcoated my situation, "I'll get to looking for Yamada and Fukawa first thing. In the meantime, we'll all need to keep a close watch on anyone who might be a Yeerk, track where they're headed".
"Wait, 'track where they're headed', you mean just spy on people?!" Kiyotaka gasped, worrying me that his volume may've just alerted my father.
"You're Head of the Disciplinary Committee, isn't monitoring students' behaviour your job?" I asked him bluntly, "Besides, if we have an alien infiltration on our hands, then the normal 'rules' don't apply".
Kiyotaka twitched, "I am well aware of my duties, Miss Kirigiri, and you telling me how to do my job could in fact count as a further violation," he fumed, but then paused for breath and said, "But yes, I do agree at us convening would be of utmost importance, and the cafeteria is a sensible enough place to do so". I was relieved to know there was some getting through to him.
"Also, you might want to stop by one of the school's swimming pools," I then said to him, "I've heard mutterings of a 'Yeerk Pool', and while I doubt it's the same one, it pays to check".
I had to immediately shut my mouth, as Mondo then walked out the door, not caring the he'd slammed it all the way into the wall while doing so.
"Hey, I couldn't hear a word you guys were saying with your Dad yammering in my ear," the Gang Leader began with, "But hey, Kyoko, if this law-abiding arsehole's giving you any lip, I say tell him to cram it. Oh yeah, and Daddy Dearest wants to see you now".
I had no idea if that was meant as genuine advice, or was the Yeerk in Mondo's head simply trying to stay in character.
"C-cram it?!" Kiyotaka was seething now, "Hmph, well whatever punishment our Headmaster has visited upon you, hooligan, I will trust that it was sufficient".
I sighed, slowly heading my way into my father's office, my ears tensed for fear an alien slug would soon be shoved into them.
My father's purple-curtained office didn't have anything immediately alien about it, though for how shrouded in shadows it was, I wasn't able to look around to the best of my abilities. Pointing at me to sit down on one of the grey couches, he cut to the chase with, "Well young lady, care to explain why you were late to the entrance ceremony?".
I could feel myself breathing. I couldn't even tell him an abridged version of the truth, that I heard a loud crash at the abandoned construction site and went to investigate, for I'd seen him there too. Even that would give me away.
So instead, I told him, "I was... 'hanging out'. Specifically, I'd arranged to meet up with some of our school's celebrity students, as I'd heard a lot about them online, and hoped they could give me a preview of what student life here is like, since... I don't exactly get to meet people often. I must've lost track of time, it happens, especially when you're among such talented people". Yeerk or not, I crafted that last line specifically for him.
He narrowed his gaze. "Whereabouts were you 'hanging out'?" he asked.
I gulped. "At a café in the mall" I came up with, feeling it was the most natural-sounding answer.
Not like that got him to back down. "You are aware our Hope's Peak has its own interior shops and eateries, correct? Or did Fuhito keep even that from you?" he kept prodding.
"Of course I knew, what other mall would I be talking about?" I said to him, for I recalled he had not specifically seen me come in the front gate that morning.
My father sighed. "Well then, Kyoko, not only were you tardy, you were also responsible for the tardiness of your fellow students. You can expect to be carrying water buckets for quite some time. Or..." he then said, before reaching into his desk to hand me a video tape, "You can have sentence lifted by showing your classmates this. It's a little animated instructional short, that is all. The A/V room is on the ground floor of the North Quarter, as I trust you are aware".
I hesitated, then asked, "The... North Quarter? I was told before I came here that it'd be undergoing renovations".
My father gave a sly grin at that, "Already finished, as who would we be if we didn't have an Ultimate Renovator handy? You are dismissed, Kyoko, I entrust your future behaviour will be fitting of the Kirigiri name you still cling to".
Well, at least I'd gotten through that whole meeting without being Yeerk'd. I had no clue what alien technology would be encrypted into a video tape of all things, so I tried making mental notes of what animals' eyes might filter out any hypnotic effects. Perhaps thoughts of hypnotic tapes were me being too paranoid, but in a scenario like this, how was I to be sure?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWQ6Nnyb-UI
Before meeting back up with everyone else at the cafeteria, I first checked what was admittedly the most obvious place Hifumi and Touko could be, their Dorm Rooms in the South Quarter.
There was no response at all when I rang Hifumi's doorbell however, in fact I could hear some nearby students snickering at me for even trying to get in touch with him at all. Of course, I only rang to be sure, not expecting any answer in the first place, but I still walked off to find find Touko's room.
Entering the Girls' dorms though, I was quickly approached by Sayaka. While she had a cheery look on her face, I could sense her trembling.
"Ah, h-hello there, Kirigiri Kyoko," she began with, bowing before me, "I guess I'm still processing all of this, y'know, shapeshifting powers, alien invasions... watching Elfangor be eaten alive, not knowing if the Yeerks have gotten to my idol friends," she looked to the ground, starting to hyperventilate as she whispered those last lines, "S-so, I wanted to just ask how you were doing. I mean, you seem to be handling this really well, ah, not meaning to assume of course".
I had to wish my estranged sister Kozue was here, as her Psychology training, especially rare in Japan, would be far more adapt at consoling Sayaka than I was.
I tried to be truthful with the Idol, "Maizono, you have to understand I was raised to conceal my emotions, it's... my family's way," I told her. "I've-I've been feeling every emotion you have, the only thing I'm better is hiding them, that's all".
"Oh, I see," she muttered, before she brightened up again and said, "It's just that out of the ten of us, well, I figured you're probably the most able to handle an, ahem, alien invasion like this. I mean, I tried thinking who else could we put in charge, and well, the only other I could think of was Kiyotaka, but well, he's kinda inflexible, y'know. I'd still be happy to be your assistant, if you ever need me".
I stared blank at her, I couldn't believe what she'd just said. Well, I could, I was just repulsed by it.
"I'm no Leader, Maizono," I tried making that dead clear, "Part of my talent, as much as I will say about it, requires me to be a neutral observer, to analyse from a distance. I-I can't do what you ask".
"I... I see," she whimpered and began to back off, but then she stood back up and said, "But like I said, if you can't be our Leader, who- who else can?".
...She had a point there. Sayaka had already encapsulated why Kiyotaka, authoritative as he was, was still not fit for the task. Byakuya was the next clear candidate, yet from what I knew of leaders, shouldn't they at least give a damn about their followers? Junko, no, she was too headstrong.
"Hmm, you do have a point," I said to her, my tone lightening, and briefly morphing cat ears and back I added, "And, well, my neutrality's in question now. Since I've touched the Escafil Device, I supposed I'm less impartial now than I'd like to be.
Okay, I... won't answer yet, but I'll think on it" I ended up telling her.
"Th-thank you!" she beamed at me, nearly crying tears of joy.
While there, I finally got around to ringing Touko's doorbell. "S-stay out! I'm warning you, this is private!" I heard her voice blare out from the other side of the door.
"Fukawa, it's me, Kirigiri Kyoko" I told her through intercom. Well, at least this was more success than I thought I'd have.
My words got Touko to open the door, albeit gradually. "Oh, the Headmaster's daughter, a-aren't you? There at the crash site, I remember. W-well, whatever you want, m-make it quick!" she hissed.
Able to peer a little further into her room, I was instantly drawn to a grey, pudgy Shiba Inu I saw in there, wearing glasses. "Y-Yamada?" I leapt to asking.
<Why, Miss Kirigiri, a welcome sight. Especially after being stuck with Miss Fukawa constantly degrading my own wordsmithery,> what was unmistakably Hifumi's voice was projected out of that dog, <I absolutely won't stand for it! Oh, um, why are you staring at me?>
"...Yamada, how long have you been in dog form?" I had to ask.
<Hmm, a couple of hours now. Must've lost track of time, is that bad?> he had to go and say.
"A Nothlit, right?" Sayaka spoke up, "I remember, that's what Elfangor said would happen".
<Ah, I take it you would prefer if I resumed my human form?> Hifumi then said. However, he was then left grunting and groaning as he tried to morph back, before he slumped to the floor and panted, <I- I do apologise, but it would appear...>
"He's stuck in this form," Touko snarled, "I knew he'd do something idiotic, from the very moment he yelled 'Henshin Da!' at the top of his lungs while morphing, even though we were trying to get away silently!".
I could've collapsed. The Nothlit risk was always at the back of my mind, but I didn't expect it to be an issue this soon.
I had originally planned to get everyone to just search for the Yeerk Pool, having found Touko and Hifumi earlier than I thought I would. But between Hifumi and my father's videotape, things had already gone awry.
"We should start forming a cover story as to Yamada's, er, disappearance, at least till we can return you back.
[ ] We'll say his training as the SHSL Otaku involves a long watching a drawing session in seclusion."
[ ] We'll say you were transferred last-minute to the overseas Hope's Peak branch."
[ ] We'll say you had to go into hiding after being targeted by a serial killer, there's more than a few of them around."
[ ] We'll just say you've gone missing."
[ ] Write-in
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